CAIRO (AP) -- An Egyptian court has convicted in absentia seven Egyptian Coptic Christians and a Florida-based American pastor and sentenced them to death on charges linked to an anti-Islam film that had sparked riots in parts of the Muslim world.

Egypt's official news agency said the court found the defendants guilty Wednesday of harming national unity, insulting and publicly attacking Islam, and spreading false information. The charges carry the death sentence in Egypt.

The case was largely symbolic since the seven men and one woman are outside of Egypt and unlikely to travel to the country to face the charges. The trial was seen as an attempt to absorb public anger over the film, which portrays the Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, womanizer and buffoon.

CAIRO -- Faced with an unprecedented strike by the courts and massive opposition protests, Egypt's Islamist president is not backing down in the showdown over decrees granting him near-absolute powers.

Activists warn that his actions threaten a "second revolution," but Mohammed Morsi faces a different situation than his ousted predecessor, Hosni Mubarak: He was democratically elected and enjoys the support of the nation's most powerful political movement.

Already, Morsi is rushing the work of an Islamist-dominated constitutional assembly at the heart of the power struggle, with a draft of the charter expected as early as Thursday, despite a walkout by liberal and Christian members that has raised questions about the panel's legitimacy.

The next step would be for Morsi to call a nationwide referendum on the document. If adopted, parliamentary elections would be held by the spring.

Wednesday brought a last-minute scramble to seize the momentum over Egypt's political transition. Morsi's camp announced that his Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists will stage a massive rally in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the plaza where more than 200,000 opposition supporters gathered a day earlier.

The Islamists' choice of the square for Saturday's rally raises the possibility of clashes. Several hundred Morsi opponents are camped out there, and another group is fighting the police on a nearby street.

"It is tantamount to a declaration of war," said liberal politician Mustafa al-Naggar, speaking on the private Al-Tahrir TV station.

Morsi remains adamant that his decrees, which place him above oversight of any kind, including by the courts, are in the interest of the nation's transition to democratic rule.

Backing down may not be an option for the 60-year-old U.S.-educated engineer.

Doing so would significantly weaken him and the Brotherhood at a time when their image has been battered by widespread charges that they are too preoccupied with tightening their grip on power to effectively tackle the country's many pressing problems.

Morsi's pride is also a key factor in a country where most people look to their leader as an invincible figure.

He may not be ready to stomach another public humiliation after backing down twice since taking office in June. His attempt to reinstate parliament's Islamist-dominated lower chamber after it was disbanded in July by the Supreme Constitutional Court was overturned by that same court. Last month, Morsi was forced to reinstate the country's top prosecutor just days after firing him when the judiciary ruled it was not within his powers to do so.

Among Morsi's first acts after seizing near-absolute powers last week was to fire the prosecutor again.

Unlike last year's anti-Mubarak uprising, calls for Morsi's ouster have so far been restricted to zealous chants by protesters, with the opposition focusing its campaign on demands that he rescind his decrees, disband the constitutional panel and replace it with a more inclusive one, and fire the Cabinet of Prime Minister Hesham Kandil.

"There is no practical means for Morsi's ouster short of a coup, which is very, very unlikely," said Augustus Richard Norton, a Middle East expert from Boston University.

Still, the opposition, whose main figures played a key role in the anti-Mubarak uprising, may be tempted to try to force Morsi from office if they continue to draw massive crowds like Tuesday's rally, which rivaled some of the biggest anti-Mubarak demonstrations. They will also likely take advantage of the growing popular discontent with Morsi's government and the fragility of his mandate – he won just 51 percent of the vote in a presidential election fought against Mubarak's last prime minister.

With the country still reeling from the aftershocks of the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak's 29-year regime, activists and analysts warn that any escalation carries the risk of a second, and possibly bloody, revolution – pitting Islamists against non-Islamists, including liberals, women and minority Christians.

Ominous signs abound. Anti-Morsi crowds have attacked at least a dozen offices belonging to the Brotherhood across the nation since last week. Clashes between the two sides have left at least two dead and hundreds wounded.

The violence and polarization has led to warnings from some newspaper columnists and the public at large of the potential for "civil war."

"As opposed to seeking face-saving compromises, (escalation by Morsi) would indicate starkly that Egypt's leaders have increasingly come to understand the current moment in zero-sum terms," said Michael W. Hanna, an Egypt expert from the New York-based Century Foundation.

"Beyond the political dangers it poses, the move will increase the risks that the contests for power will spill over into the streets, with civil strife a real possibility."

While potentially destabilizing, Morsi's tug-of-war with the liberal opposition pales in comparison to his battle with the powerful judiciary, which considers the president's decrees an unprecedented assault on its authority.

On Wednesday, judges of the nation's highest appeals court and its lower sister court went on strike to protest the decrees, joining hundreds of other judges who have not worked since Sunday.

The Supreme Constitutional Court, which is to rule Sunday on the legality of the constitutional panel and parliament's upper chamber – both dominated by Morsi's Brotherhood and other Islamists – admonished the president for accusing it of trying to bring down his government.

The loss of the judiciary's goodwill could prove costly for Morsi.

Already, the judges are warning that, unless their demands are met, they will not assume their traditional role of supervising a referendum on a new constitution or the parliamentary elections that would follow. Without them, the legitimacy of any vote would be in question.

"This is the highest form of protest," said Nasser Amin, head of the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession. "The judges felt that the constitutional declaration has taken away from them the dearest and most important mandates" – oversight of government decisions.

An Egyptian panel rushed through a draft constitution seen as undermining basic freedoms on Friday, resulting in mass protests in Cairo.

AFP reported that tens of thousands of protesters rallied as the opposition piled pressure on President Mohammed Morsi.

"Down with the constitutional assembly," vast crowds armed with megaphones chanted as they filed into Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak in early 2011.

Banners condemned "dictatorial Morsi" while protesters shouted "down with the rule of the Guide," a reference to the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, through whose ranks Morsi rose before becoming president.

The marches, led by opposition figures, set off from several Cairo districts early in the day to join the protesters in the square.

The Islamist-dominated assembly, tasked with drafting a new charter to replace the one suspended after Mubarak's ouster, approved the draft early on Friday after an almost 24 hour-long session boycotted by liberals and Christians.

The panel's head, Hossam el-Ghiriani, said a delegation from the Constituent Assembly would visit Morsi on Saturday to present him the draft constitution. Morsi is expected to call for a referendum within two weeks.

Rights activists say the charter undermines freedoms of women and religious minorities while the opposition says it was rushed through to force an early referendum.

CAIRO (AP) - Thousands of Egyptians massed in Cairo Tuesday for a march to the presidential palace to protest the assumption by the nation's Islamist president of nearly unrestricted powers and a draft constitution hurriedly adopted by his allies.

The march comes amid rising anger over the draft charter and decrees issued by Mohammed Morsi giving himself sweeping powers. Morsi called for a nationwide referendum on the draft constitution on Dec. 15.

It is Egypt's worst political crisis since the ouster nearly two years ago of authoritarian president Hosni Mubarak. The country has been divided into two camps: Morsi and his fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, as well as ultraconservative Salafi Islamists versus youth groups, liberal parties and large sectors of the public.

Hundreds of black-clad riot police deployed around the Itihadiya palace in Cairo's district of Heliopolis. Barbed wire was also placed outside the complex, and side roads leading to it were blocked to traffic. Protesters gathered at Cairo's Tahrir square and several other points not far from the palace to march to the presidential complex.

"Freedom or we die," chanted a crowd of several hundred outside a mosque in the Abbasiyah district. "Mohammed Morsi! Illegitimate! Brotherhood! Illegitimate!" they also yelled, alluding to the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood from which Morsi hails.

"This is the last warning before we lay siege on the presidential palace," said Mahmoud Hashim, a 21-year-old student from the city of Suez on the Red Sea. "We want the presidential decrees cancelled."

Several hundred protesters also gathered outside Morsi's residence in an upscale suburb not far from the Itihadiya. "Down with the sons of dogs. We are the power and we are the people" They chanted.

Morsi, who narrowly won the presidency in a June election, appeared to be in no mood for compromise.

A statement by his office said the Egyptian leader met on Tuesday with his deputy, prime minister and several top Cabinet members to discuss preparations for the referendum. The statement appeared also to suggest that it is business as usual at the presidential palace despite the planned rally.

(AP) An Egyptian newspaperman arranges state-owned newspapers being sold on the street in Cairo, Egypt,...Full Image

A large turnout would signal sustained momentum for the opposition, which brought out at least 200,000 protesters to Cairo's Tahrir Square a week ago and a comparable number on Friday, demanding that Morsi's decrees be rescinded. Hundreds of protesters also have camped out in Tahrir, birthplace of last year's uprising, for close to two weeks.

The Islamists responded by sending hundreds of thousands of supporters into Cairo's twin city of Giza on Saturday and across much of the country. Thousands also imposed a siege on Egypt's highest court, the Supreme Constitutional Court.

The court had been widely expected Sunday to declare the constitutional assembly that passed the draft charter on Friday to be illegitimate and to disband parliament's upper house, the Shura Council. Instead, the judges went on strike after they found their building under siege by protesters.

The opposition has yet to say whether it intends to focus its energy on rallying support for a boycott of the Dec. 15 vote or defeating the draft with a "no" vote.

"We haven't made any decisions yet, but I'm leaning against a boycott and toward voting 'no'," said Hossam al-Hamalawy of the Socialist Revolutionaries, a key group behind last year's uprising. "We want a (new) constituent assembly that represents the people and we keep up the pressure on Morsi."

The strikes were part of a planned campaign of civil disobedience that could bring in other industries.

Already Tuesday, at least eight influential dailies, a mix of opposition party mouthpieces and independent publications, suspended publication for a day to protest against what many journalists see as the restrictions on freedom of expression in the draft constitution.

The country's privately owned TV networks planned their own protest Wednesday, when they will blacken their screens all day.

Morsi's Nov. 22 decrees placed him above oversight of any kind, including the courts. The constitutional panel then rushed through a draft constitution without the participation of representatives of liberals and Christians. Only four women, all Islamists, attended the marathon, all-night session.

The charter has been criticized for not protecting the rights of women and minority groups, and many journalists see it as restricting freedom of expression. Critics also say it empowers Islamic religious clerics by giving them a say over legislation, while some articles were seen as tailored to get rid of Islamists' enemies.

Officers fired teargas at up to 10,000 demonstrators angered by Mursi's drive to hold a referendum on a new constitution on December 15. Some broke through police lines around his palace and protested next to the perimeter wall.

The crowds had gathered nearby in what organizers had dubbed "last warning" protests against Mursi, who infuriated opponents with a November 22 decree that expanded his powers. "The people want the downfall of the regime," the demonstrators chanted.

"The president left the palace," a presidential source, who declined to be named, told Reuters. A security source at the presidency also said the president had departed.

Mursi ignited a storm of unrest in his bid to prevent a judiciary still packed with appointees of ousted predecessor Hosni Mubarak from derailing a troubled political transition.

Facing the gravest crisis of his six-month-old tenure, the Islamist president has shown no sign of buckling under pressure.

Riot police at the palace faced off against activists chanting "leave, leave" and holding Egyptian flags with "no to the constitution" written on them. Protesters had assembled near mosques in northern Cairo before marching towards the palace.

"Our marches are against tyranny and the void constitutional decree and we won't retract our position until our demands are met," said Hussein Abdel Ghany, a spokesman for an opposition coalition of liberal, leftist and other disparate factions.

Protesters later surrounded the palace, with some climbing on gates at the rear to look down into the gardens.

At one point, people clambered onto a police armored vehicle and waved flags, while riot police huddled nearby.

The Health Ministry said 18 people had been injured in clashes next to the palace, according to the state news agency.

YEARNING FOR STABILITY

Despite the latest protests, there has been only a limited response to opposition calls for a mass campaign of civil disobedience in the Arab world's most populous country and cultural hub, where many people yearn for a return to stability.

A few hundred protesters gathered earlier near Mursi's house in a suburb east of Cairo, chanting slogans against his decree and against the Muslim Brotherhood, from which the president emerged to win a free election in June. Police closed the road to stop them from coming any closer, a security official said.

Opposition groups have accused Mursi of making a dictatorial power grab to push through a constitution drafted by an assembly dominated by his supporters, with a referendum planned for December 15.

They say the draft constitution does not reflect the interests of Egypt's liberals and other groups, an accusation dismissed by Islamists who insist it is a balanced document.

Egypt's most widely-read independent newspapers did not publish on Tuesday in protest at Mursi's "dictatorship". Banks closed early to let staff go home safely in case of trouble.

Abdelrahman Mansour in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the cradle of the anti-Mubarak revolt, said: "The presidency believes the opposition is too weak and toothless. Today is the day we show them the opposition is a force to be reckoned with."

But after winning post-Mubarak elections and pushing the Egyptian military out of the political driving seat it held for decades, the Islamists sense their moment has come to shape the future of Egypt, a longtime U.S. ally whose 1979 peace treaty with Israel is a cornerstone of Washington's Middle East policy.

The Muslim Brotherhood and its allies, who staged a huge pro-Mursi rally in Cairo on Saturday, are confident enough members of the judiciary will be available to oversee the mid-December referendum, despite calls by some judges for a boycott.

"The crisis we have suffered for two weeks is on its way to an end, and very soon, God willing," Saad al-Katatni, leader of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

Cairo stocks closed up 3.5 percent as investors took heart at what they saw as prospects for a return to stability after the referendum in a country whose divisions have only widened since a mass uprising toppled Mubarak on February 11, 2011.

Mohamed Radwan, at Pharos Securities brokerage, said the Supreme Judicial Council's agreement to supervise the vote had generated confidence that it would go ahead "despite all the noise and demonstrations that might take place until then".

"NO WAY PERFECT"

Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, a technocrat with Islamist sympathies, said in an interview with CNN: "We certainly hope that things will quiet down after the referendum is completed."

He said the constitution was "in no way a perfect text" that everyone had agreed to, but that a "majority consensus" favored moving forward with the referendum in 11 days' time.

The Muslim Brotherhood, now tasting power via the ballot box for the first time in eight decades of struggle, wants to safeguard its gains and appears ready to override street protests by what it regards as an unrepresentative minority.

It is also determined to prevent the courts, which have already dissolved the Islamist-led elected lower house of parliament, from further obstructing their blueprint for change.

Despite charges that they are anti-Islamist and politically motivated, judges say they are following legal codes in their rulings. Experts say some political changes rushed through in the past two years have been on shaky legal ground.

A Western diplomat said the Islamists were counting on a popular desire for restored normality and economic stability.

"All the messages from the Muslim Brotherhood are that a vote for the constitution is one for stability and a vote against is one for uncertainty," he said, adding that the cost of the strategy was a "breakdown in consensus politics".

The Egyptian army has set up barricades outside the presidential palace, after ordering protesters to leave the area.

It follows violent overnight clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohammed Morsi that left five people dead and 644 injured.

Most protesters left the palace by the 15:00 (13:00 GMT) deadline, though some opposition activists remained.

Meanwhile, Egypt's top Islamic body has called on the president to suspend his decree claiming sweeping powers.

The Al-Azhar institution also demanded an unconditional dialogue between the president and his opponents.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says this move by one of the most respected bodies in Sunni Islam has put President Morsi - who was largely brought to power by the powerful Islamist Muslim Brotherhood - under more pressure.

But he adds that it is difficult to see what compromise is possible between President Morsi and the opposition.

Mr Morsi is expected to address the nation on Thursday evening, although his statement appears to have been delayed.

The president adopted new powers in the decree on 22 November, and stripped the judiciary of any power to challenge his decisions.

For Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government, more battle tanks and jet fighters are on their way from the United States.

Cairo’s military link to Washington has remained intact, meaning the U.S. will continue to modernize the biggest military in Africa — even as President Mohammed Morsi has decreed near-absolute power for himself and his supporters and opponents battle outside his palace.

Analysts say Egypt’s military buildup presents risks for Washington — and Israel — with the growing influence of the Brotherhood, whose overriding goal is to establish Shariah, or Islamic, law worldwide.

A Pentagon statement to The Washington Times on Thursday said: “We are always reviewing our foreign assistance to make sure foreign assistance advances U.S. objectives and is being used for the right purposes.”

For now, Egypt is due 200 M1A1 Abrams battle tanks, the same mechanized firepower manned by American soldiers, bringing Egypt’s inventory to a robust 1,200.

Enlarge PhotoAn opponent of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi argues Thursday with Morsi supporters, ... more > Also in the pipeline is a squadron of the Air Force F-16 Falcon, a multipurpose warplane able to dogfight and drop ordnance.

The government awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a contract in March 2010 for 20 F-16s, the last to be delivered next year. That would increase Egypt’s total fleet to 240, according to a company press release at the time.

“Egypt has far and away the largest army in Africa,” said Egypt analyst Robert Springborg, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.

The billions of dollars in U.S. military aid — in annual $1.3 billion stipends — have made the Egyptian air force the fourth-largest F-16 operator among 25 countries. Egypt’s 4,000 tanks, including the 1,000 or so M1A1s, make it the world’s seventh-largest tank army.

“This is a pretty substantial capacity that they have developed,” Mr. Springborg said.

‘A top regional priority’

In Cairo, the Egyptian army sealed off the president’s palace with M-60 tanks and barbed wire Thursday, a day after Morsi supporters and detractors clashed outside the residence. At least six people were killed Wednesday.

What’s more, another member of Mr. Morsi’s 17-member advisory board resigned to protest his handling of the growing crisis over his power grab and a controversial draft constitution approved by his Islamist allies. So far, seven people have resigned from his advisory panel.

A referendum on the constitution is scheduled for Dec. 15, and the Muslim Brotherhood is strongly advocating its ratification.

Meanwhile, Frank Gaffney, a senior defense policymaker in the Reagan administration, has been warning about the rise of the Brotherhood as it relates to the U.S.

CAIRO (AP) - Angry relatives and residents rampaged through an Egyptian port city Saturday in rioting that killed at least 27 people after a judge sentenced nearly two dozen soccer fans to death for involvement in deadly violence after a game last year.

The unrest was the latest in a bout of violence that has left a total of 38 people dead in two days, including 11 killed in clashes between police and protesters marking Friday's second anniversary of the uprising that overthrew longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.

President Mohammed Morsi canceled a scheduled trip to Ethiopia Saturday and instead met for the first time with top generals as part of the newly formed National Defense Council.

The violence in Port Said erupted after a judge sentenced 21 people to death in connection with the Feb. 1 soccer melee that killed 74 fans of the Cairo-based Al-Ahly team. Executions in Egypt are usually carried out by hanging.

(AP) Egyptians say funeral prayers in a mosque for three people who died in demonstrations marking the...Full Image

All the defendants - who were not present in the courtroom Saturday for security reasons - can appeal the verdict.

Judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid did not give his reasoning when he read out the verdicts for 21 out of the 73 defendants Saturday. The verdict for the remaining 52 defendants, including nine security officials, is scheduled to be delivered March 9. Some have been charged with murder and others with assisting the attackers.

Die-hard soccer fans from both teams, known as Ultras, hold the police at least partially responsible for February's violence, which was the world's worst soccer violence in 15 years, saying officers at the game did nothing to stop the bloodshed. They also criticize Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi for doing little to reform the police force or the judiciary since he took office in July.

The opposition says Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected and civilian president, and his Muslim Brotherhood allies in government have failed to restore stability amid continued political turmoil and crime, and point to a worsening economy.

In a statement Saturday, the main opposition National Salvation Front said it holds Morsi responsible for "the excessive use of force by the security forces against protesters." They threatened to boycott upcoming parliamentary elections if Morsi does not meet their demands that include amending articles in the new constitution.

(AP) Families and supporters of those accused of soccer violence from the Port Said soccer club react to...Full Image

The Brotherhood said in its statement that "misleading" media outlets were to blame for "enflaming the people's hatred for the current regime and urging them to act violently."

Immediately after Saturday's verdict was read live on state TV, two policemen were shot dead outside Port Said's main prison when angry relatives tried to storm the facility to free the defendants. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets, as well as live rounds, at the crowd outside the prison.

In other parts of the city, residents tried to storm the governor's office, police stations, the power station and the main court building. Residents occupied one police station in the east of Port Said.

The director of hospitals in Port Said, Dr. Abdel-Raham Farah, said two local soccer players were shot to death as they were apparently on their way to practice. He identified them as Mahmoud Abdel-Halim al-Dizawi, who played for the city's Al-Marikh club, and Tamer al-Fahla, who used to play for the city's main Al-Masry team. Al-Diwazi was shot three times, the doctor said.

The club they were training at is near the prison that residents tried to storm.

(AP) Families and supporters of those accused of soccer violence from the Port Said soccer club react to...Full Image

The military was deployed in Port Said to try to restore security, but assaults continued into the evening. The army was widely used to keep order by top generals who took over after Hosni Mubarak, but the military has kept a much lower profile since Morsi was elected.

Egyptian military forces also were sent into the canal city of Suez after eight people died in Friday's clashes between security forces and protesters opposed to the new president and the Brotherhood. Another protester was killed in Ismailiya, and security officials told the state news agency MENA that two policemen were killed in Friday's protests.

Many of the young men who led the protests and clashes hail from the Ultras. They often come from poor neighborhoods and view the police force that was the backbone of Mubarak's authoritarian rule as their nemesis.

"The police are thugs!" yelled relatives of the deceased inside the courtroom before the judge took the bench.

Near Cairo's Tahrir Square, where tens of thousands had amassed to mark the two-year anniversary a day earlier, Ultras Al-Ahly waved their team's red flag as they clashed with police who fired tear gas to disburse the crowd near Cabinet headquarters and Parliament.

(AP) Families and supporters of those accused of soccer violence from the Port Said soccer club react to...Full Image

Underlining the distrust that lingers between much of the public and the police, survivors and witnesses say Mubarak loyalists had a hand in instigating last year's attack, which began after Port Said's home team won the match, 3-1, and that the police at the very least were responsible for gross negligence.

Al-Masry fans stormed the pitch after the game ended, attacking Cairo's Al-Ahly fans. Authorities shut off the stadium lights, plunging it into darkness. In the exit corridor, the fleeing crowd pressed against a chained gate until it broke open. Many were crushed under the crowd of people trying to flee.

Other survivors said it was simply bloodthirsty Al-Masry fans and lack of enough security that led to the deaths of their colleagues. Both sides blame police for failing to perform usual searches for weapons at the stadium.

Anger is boiling in Port Said, where residents say they have been unfairly scapegoated.

A lawyer of one of the defendants given a death sentence said the verdict was political.

(AP) Egyptian soccer fans of Al-Ahly club celebrate in front of their club in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday,...Full Image

"There is nothing to say these people did anything and we don't understand what this verdict is based on," Mohammed al-Daw told The Associated Press by telephone.

"Our situation in Port Said is very grave because kids were taken from their homes for wearing green T-shirts," he said, referring to the Al-Masry team color.

Al-Daw and other defense attorneys said all those sentenced were Al-Masry fans. As is customary in Egypt, the death sentences will be sent to the nation's top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for approval, though the court has final say on the matter.

Fans of Al-Ahly, whose stands were attacked by rival club Al-Masry in the incident in Port Said, had promised more violence in the days leading up to the verdict if the death penalty was not handed down.

Before the judge could read out the names of the 21, families erupted in relief, yelling "Allahu Akbar!" Arabic for "God is great," with their hands in the air and waving pictures of the deceased. One man fainted while others hugged one another. The judge smacked the bench several times to try to restore calm in the courtroom.

"This was necessary," said Nour al-Sabah, whose 17-year-old son Ahmed Zakaria died in last year's melee. "Now I want to see the guys when they are executed with my own eyes, just as they saw the murder of my son."

Thousands of Al-Ahly fans gathered outside the Cairo sports club for the verdict, chanting against the police and the government.

"We are not really that happy," Mohamed Ahmed, a survivor of the attack, said. "The government helped the Ultras of Port Said by blocking the gates of the stadium until people suffocated to death.

CAIRO, Jan 28 (Reuters) - A man was shot dead on Monday in a fifth day of violence in Egypt that has killed 50 people and prompted the Islamist president to declare a state of emergency in an attempt to end a wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world's biggest nation.

Emergency rule announced by President Mohamed Morsi on Sunday covers the cities of Port Said, Ismailia and Suez. The army has already been deployed in two of those cities and cabinet approved a measure to let soldiers arrest civilians.

A cabinet source told Reuters any trials would be before civilian courts, but the step is likely to anger protesters who accuse Morsi of using high-handed security tactics of the kind they fought against to oust President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt's politics have become deeply polarised since those heady days two years ago, when protesters were making most of the running in the Arab Spring revolutions that sent shockwaves through the region and Islamists and liberals lined up together.

Although Islamists have won parliamentary and presidential elections, the disparate opposition has since united against Morsi. Late last year he moved to expand his powers and push a constitution with Islamist leanings through a referendum, punctuated by violent street protests.

Morsi's call for a national dialogue meeting on Monday to help end the crisis was spurned by his main opponents.

They accuse Morsi of hijacking the revolution, listening only to his Islamist allies and breaking a promise to be a president for all Egyptians. Islamists say their rivals want to overthrow by undemocratic means Egypt's first freely elected leader.

Anti-Morsi protesters were out on the streets again in Cairo and elsewhere on Monday, the second anniversary of one of the bloodiest days in the revolution that erupted on Jan. 25, 2011, and ended Mubarak's iron rule 18 days later.

CONCERNS

Hundreds of demonstrators in Port Said, Ismailia and Suez, cities which all lie on the economically vital Suez Canal, had turned out against Morsi's decision on Sunday within moments of him speaking. Activists there pledged to defy a curfew that starts at 9 p.m. (1700 GMT).

Instability in Egypt has raised concerns in Western capitals, where officials worry about the direction of a key regional player that has a peace deal with Israel.

The political unrest has been exacerbated by street violence linked to death penalties imposed on soccer supporters convicted of involvement in stadium rioting a year ago.

In Cairo on Monday, police fired volleys of teargas at stone-throwing protesters near Tahrir Square, cauldron of the anti-Mubarak uprising. A 46-year-old bystander was killed by a gunshot, a security source said. It was not clear who opened fire.

"We want to bring down the regime and end the state that is run by the Muslim Brotherhood," said Ibrahim Eissa, a 26-year-old cook, protecting his face from teargas wafting towards him.

Propelled to the presidency in a June election by the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi has lurched through a series of political crises and violent demonstrations, complicating his task of shoring up the economy and of preparing for a parliamentary election to cement the new democracy in a few months.

"The protection of the nation is the responsibility of everyone. We will confront any threat to its security with force and firmness within the remit of the law," Morsi said, angering many of his opponents when he wagged his finger at the camera.

The president offered condolences to families of victims of violence and also called a dialogue meeting on Monday at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) between Islamist allies and their liberal, leftist and other opponents to discuss the crisis.

The main opposition National Salvation Front coalition rejected the offer as "cosmetic and not substantive" and set several conditions that have not been met in the past, such as forming a national salvation government. They also demanded that Morsi announce his responsibility for the bloodshed.

SECURITY MEASURES

"We will send a message to the Egyptian people and the president of the republic about what we think are the essentials for dialogue. If he agrees to them, we are ready for dialogue," opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei told a news conference.

The opposition Front has distanced itself from the latest flare-ups but said Morsi should have acted far sooner to impose security measures that would have ended the violence.

"Of course we feel the president is missing the real problem on the ground, which is his own policies," Front spokesman Khaled Dawoud said after Morsi made his declaration.

Other activists said Morsi's measures to try to impose control on the turbulent streets could backfire.

"Martial law, state of emergency and army arrests of civilians are not a solution to the crisis," Ahmed Maher of the April 6 movement that helped galvanise the 2011 uprising said. "All this will do is further provoke the youth. The solution has to be a political one that addresses the roots of the problem."

Thousands of mourners joined funerals in Port Said for the latest victims in the Mediterranean port city. Seven people were killed there on Sunday when residents joined marches to bury 33 others who had been killed a day earlier, most by gunshot wounds in a city where arms are rife.

Protests erupted there on Saturday after a court sentenced to death several people from the city for their role in deadly soccer violence last year, a verdict residents saw as unfair. The anger swiftly turned against Morsi and his government.

Rights activists said Morsi's declaration was a backward step for Egypt, which was under emergency law for Mubarak's entire 30-year rule. His police used the sweeping arrest provisions to muzzle dissent and round up opponents, including members of the Brotherhood and even Morsi himself.

Heba Morayef of Human Rights Watch in Cairo said the police, still hated by many Egyptians for their heavy-handed tactics under Mubarak, would once again have the right to arrest people "purely because they look suspicious", undermining efforts to create a more efficient and respected police force.

"It is a classic knee-jerk reaction to think the emergency law will help bring security," she said. "It gives so much discretion to the Ministry of Interior that it ends up causing more abuse, which in turn causes more anger." (Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh in Cairo and Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia; Editing by Giles Elgood and Peter Millership)

As Egypt descended into violence this past week you can’t help but ask: What happened to the revolution? Surely the young men and women who toppled Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorial regime didn’t intend to replace him with the authoritarian regime of Mohammed Morsi.

The Egyptian army was deployed this week after rioting broke out in various Egyptian cities. Dozens have died in the violence. Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has warned that the confrontation between Islamists and the more liberal-minded, secular-oriented protesters “could lead to the collapse of the state.”

All this squeezes Morsi into a tight corner, of course. He has to suppress the riots, appease his own supporters and, at the extreme, avoid a civil war. Yet, Morsi can be faulted for having fostered the conditions that engender violence. He and his Muslim Brotherhood backers rammed through a pro-Islamist constitution with little regard for Egypt’s large secularized population, or much concern for women’s rights and religious minorities. Morsi’s recent attempt to give himself greater powers also did not go down well with many Egyptians.

Perhaps even more crucially, Morsi’s regime has done little to improve the economic prospects of Egypt’s young — 45 million are under 30 years old. Rising food prices and high unemployment were the dry tinder that sparked the Arab Spring. Yet, two years later, unemployment among those between 19 and 24 hovers at 41 per cent, while, according to one report, 86 per cent of Egyptian households don’t have enough income to cover monthly food and shelter costs. An explosion was almost inevitable.

Certainly, no one expected Morsi to turn Egypt around overnight. The problem, though, is that he’s been more concerned about ideology than the economy. He and his backers seem to want to ensure the Muslim Brotherhood’s dominance in order to remake Egypt as a fundamentalist Islamic state.

Revolutions tend to turn violent when they fail to deliver on their promises. But they also tend to breed totalitarianism because they demand the total identification of individuals with the state. There can be no dissent in a totalitarian state because that casts doubt on the new order’s legitimacy. This happened with the Russian and French Revolutions. For those who questioned the remaking of society into the revolutionary image, well, there was always the gulag or the guillotine.

Liberal political orders have generally avoided or overcome this totalitarian inclination because civil society — everything from churches and Rotary Clubs to Neighbourhood Watch and environmental groups — mediates the relationship between the state and the citizen. Civil society creates spaces between the state, the market and the family that allows people to exchange ideas and act to satisfy their political, social, psychological and spiritual needs. The state is not a “total” presence in citizens’ lives.

After decades of near-totalitarian rule, Egypt’s civil society is much weakened. Unfortunately, the Morsi regime appears bent on weakening it more.

How might the West respond? Tough-mindedly, using money as leverage. Morsi wants to borrow $5 billion from the International Monetary Fund, and seeks financial concessions from countries such as the United States and Germany. The West should grant loans only on condition that Morsi abandon the Islamist agenda, recast the constitution to foster civil society — guaranteeing religious freedom and rights for women is a good place to start — and find consensus with secularist advocates. The West should not prop up another would-be theocratic dictatorship.

CAIRO — Well-known political opposition figures stayed away from meetings with visiting Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Saturday, some for fear of appearing too close to the United States in the still-unsettled politics of Egypt two years after the fall of a U.S.-backed dictator.

Kerry encouraged Egypt’s Islamist-led government to take politically difficult economic steps that are crucial to securing international loans and outside investment. President Mohamed Morsi, whom Kerry will see Sunday, has been unable to marshal support for such economic measures. His opponents accuse him of reneging on pledges of political and religious openness.

Meanwhile, some $450 million in U.S. aid to Egypt has been frozen in Congress and the International Monetary Fund has held off on loans and debt relief worth more than $4 billion. Egypt has been the most important Arab ally of the United States for decades, with ties built largely on Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel.

Egypt’s foreign currency reserves have fallen by roughly two-thirds since the 2011 revolution that overthrew longtime secular ruler Hosni Mubarak. Morsi’s government is trying to slow a run on the U.S. dollar. Unemployment is rampant, and a diesel-fuel crisis has led to waits of several hours at gas stations.

“We expect from friends, and particularly from the United States as a strategic partner, to stand by Egypt in this period, especially on the economic issues,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr said after a meeting with Kerry.

The ruling Islamists are at an impasse with secular and leftist opposition parties. The umbrella National Salvation Front has called for a boycott of upcoming parliamentary elections in protest of a national constitution whose strong Islamist stamp also worries some in the United States.

Political liberals and secular parties resent the U.S. push for them to take part in voting they say will further divide the country. They say the United States is showing favor to Morsi and Islamists.

Kerry addressed Egypt’s intertwined political and economic problems by meeting with opposition political and religious leaders, human rights activists and business leaders. For some, Kerry’s visit is an unwelcome public reminder that the United States is Egypt’s principal international benefactor — and that the money comes with strings.

National Salvation Front leader Hamdeen Sabahi refused to meet with Kerry, who had invited a mix of opposition figures to a roundtable meeting at his hotel. After Sabahi’s announcement Friday, fellow NSF leader Mohamed ElBaradei also decided against the meeting. Kerry spoke to him by phone after arriving in Egypt on Saturday.

Opposition figure Amr Moussa declined the group invitation but held a private session with Kerry, out of the view of cameras.

Kerry told reporters later that he had not heard anything from opposition figures to suggest they will change their minds about the vote boycott.

Ahead of the meetings, a senior State Department official traveling with Kerry said the secretary of state would press squabbling politicians to comply with IMF preconditions to increase tax revenue and cut energy subsidies. That would not only bring direct economic relief but “unlock” other foreign investment from the United States and elsewhere, the official said on the condition of anonymity to preview Kerry’s message.

Kerry called his closed-door session with opposition leaders productive, but he emerged with a warning.

“It is paramount, essential, urgent, that the Egyptian economy get stronger, get back on its feet,” Kerry said.

He offered U.S. help but said investors are spooked.

“To attract capital, to bring money back here that will invest and give business the confidence to move forward, there has to be a sense of security, and here has to be a sense of economic political viability,” Kerry said.

He added that the United States has no political favorites in Egypt.

“I come here on behalf of President Obama committed not to any party, not to any one person, not to any specific political point of view,” Kerry said.

The belt-tightening is widely unpopular, and Kerry’s appeal comes as political parties and Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood-backed government jockey ahead of parliamentary elections set to begin April 22.

“For there to be agreement on doing the kinds of economic reforms that would be required under an IMF deal, there has to be a basic political . . . agreement among all of the various players,” the official traveling with Kerry said.

Egypt said Thursday that it would invite the IMF to reopen talks about the loans. Terms of the package were agreed to in principle in November but put on hold weeks later because of widespread violence and street protests.

The 6th of April movement, a youth opposition group that opposed Mubarak and now opposes the Muslim Brotherhood’s ruling party, said it refused to be a “checked box” on Kerry’s agenda.

The “so-called opposition meeting arranged by the U.S. Embassy is a collection of ‘feloul,’ ” or remnants of the old regime, “and minor party leaders who do not represent the youth of Egypt,” the 6th of April movement said in a statement on Facebook.

Investment Minister Osama Saleh expressed hope that a deal could be reached by the end of April, Reuters reported.

Ahmad Kamel Saleh, a spokesman for Moussa’s political party, said a deputy attended the group meeting in Moussa’s stead “because we see that we don’t have anything extra to say regarding the meeting and the opposition’s stand regarding the elections.”

“We do not see that anybody is trying to interfere,” he added.

Also Saturday, activists accused police of using excessive force and running over protesters in two Egyptian cities, killing one, the Associated Press reported. More than 70 people have been killed in clashes with police since late January, the news agency reported.

Human Rights Watch said Saturday that Morsi should “publicly acknowledge that the police’s right to use lethal force is not unlimited — even when they come under attack — and order the police to limit any use of force to what is strictly necessary."

Kerry planned to see a representative from the international human rights group during his stay.

Kerry’s visit to Egypt did not go smoothly as protesters turned out to denounce Obama and Kerry’s support for the Islamist regime of Morsi.

Protesters held a banner reading, “They shook hands stained with the blood of children.” Others burned and stomped on photos of Kerry. They denounced American interference in Egyptian affairs and claimed that the alliance between the US and the Muslim Brotherhood is the true ruling regime in Egypt. And a simpler banned said, “Go to hell.”

Many of the protesters had camped out overnight bringing their own mattresses with them. Others reportedly set fire to car tires outside the airport to prevent Kerry from entering the country.

And some held up cartoons of Kerry, portraying him with an Islamic beard, saying “Kerry – member of the Brotherhood”.

Meanwhile one of the founding members of Free Egyptians has written an open letter to Obama.

The USA has sponsored the so-called Arab Spring and has sold it to its taxpayers as the outcry of oppressed middle-eastern people for democracy, when all it achieved was bringing to power theocratic regimes that oppressed their people even more and turned the victim countries into failed states, namely Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Tunis and now Egypt which you are visiting to ensure that it joins the happy crowd.

Is surrounding Israel by failed states your ultimate objective?

Do you think that there can be lasting peace with countries that base their decisions on fanatic religious views?

Do you think that peace can be perpetuated in a neighborhood of poverty, despair and extremism?

Are you telling your taxpayers that you are squandering their money on a failed experiment that will create new Ben Ladens who will eventually turn against your country and the freedom, equality and liberty your people hold so dearly?

Mr. Secretary, you are coming to Egypt to support Morsi and his gang who since coming to power in June of last year through a questionable election have broken the constitution and all the laws of Egypt.

Mr. Morsi has issued illegal constitution amendment declarations and decrees in flagrant breach of the constitution he swore to uphold. When popular pressure mounted against these unprecedented actions, he decided to abrogate the most illegitimate of those decrees, yet kept all its effects in force!!!!!

He sent his gang thugs to impose siege on the Supreme Court of Egypt for over 2 months to obstruct justice and prevent the court to issue sentences regarding the illegitimate Shoura Council (Upper House) and the second constituent assembly from which one third of the members withdrew. Would Mr. Obama be spared had he done the same in your country?

His security apparatus seconded by his gang militias gratuitously killed and tortured hundreds of Egyptians during peaceful demonstrations.

Irregularities and violations at the referendum for the new constitution in December of last year were called for by civil society organizations as sufficient ground to cancel and repeat the first phase of the referendum, yet you disregarded all this.

You turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to all this and are now coming to force your hand on the free will of the true people of Egypt who sacrificed hundreds of its youth to live in freedom, equality and dignity.

Mr. Secretary this is not what the constitution of the US stands for, this is not what your taxpayers are paying their government to do.

Revisit your mandate and your pledge to uphold your constitution which stands for some of the best values of human mankind, but most of all revisit your conscience and respect the plight of a people that longs for all what your forefathers died for.

Clashes again as ties between security apparatus and people of Port Saeed deteriorateAgenciesPublished: 17:13 March 5, 2013

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Cairo: The Egyptian president is considering whether to give the military full control of the restive Suez Canal city of Port Saeed after days of deadly street clashes stoked by excessive use of force by riot police, officials said on Tuesday.

Police shot into the air and fired tear gas during clashes with hundreds of protesters in Port Saeed on Tuesday, the third day of violent protests in the port city.

Waves of demonstrations have been erupting in Port Saeed since January after the detention of dozens of people in connection with a football riot last year when 70 died. On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of a government building and hurled stones at police, who reacted by firing tear gas and warning shots in the air, the witness said.

The witness said he had seen at least three people who appeared to be unconscious.

Some 420 people have been wounded since the latest wave of protests started on Sunday, about 60 from shotgun wounds and live bullets, Syed Al Masry, head of Port Saeed’s ambulance services, said on Monday.

Mohammad Mursi met with his security chief and top military officers to discuss pulling out the police force and putting the military in charge to defuse the cycle of violence that has gripped the city, officials from the military and the president’s office said.

The latest round of rioting and violence in Port Saeed, which erupted on Sunday, has killed at least three civilians and three policemen and injured hundreds.

“The presidency is considering this option after relations between the security apparatus and the people of Port Saeed deteriorated,” said one of the officials. He added that the idea behind the proposal is that once the army takes control, it would presumably not get into confrontation with protesters.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media about the president’s deliberations.

The military sent reinforcement to Port Saeed late on Monday, after protesters torched a government building and police headquarters there. Witnesses said protesters lay down and slept on the asphalt to prevent fire engines from reaching the buildings on fire.

The officials said police have lost control over the city and the only way out was to hand it over to the military, which enjoys considerable support among Port Saeed residents.

Mursi’s deliberations come amid reports of tense relations between the president and the country’s Defence Minister Gen. Abdul Fattah Al Sissi following a rumour that the minister could be sacked because he resisted to bring the military under the sway of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood group.

Some opposition groups and figures want to see the military take over power after perceiving the country’s new Islamist leadership as incapable of ending Egypt’s deteriorating economy and increasing unrest.